Glasgow team scoops the Environment prize and Gold Medal
in the 2007 international Genetically Engineered Machines competition
(Synthetic Biology)

[Presentation slides] [Team wiki] [iGEM 2007]

Students in Biology, Computing, Engineering, Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Glasgow formed a multi disciplinary team to enter the prestigious iGEM international Genetically Engineered Machine Competition in the newly emerging field of Synthetic Biology. The work took place over 10 weeks in the summer of 2007 and culminated in a Jamboree on the 4th of November at MIT (Boston's Massachusetts Institute of Technology) where 53 teams from top universities around the world presented their research to the judges. The Glasgow team won a gold medal and first prize in the Environment track, successfully overcoming strong competition from 9 other teams including MIT and Brown University (USA).

Glasgow's team comprised 11 highly talented undergraduate students and two instructors from 3 faculties (IBLS, FIMS, Engineering), plus a set of academics lead by Prof David Gilbert (Computing Science) and Dr Susan Rosser (BioMedical and Life Sciences). Prof Monika Heiner from Cottbus University, Germany, acted as an external advisor.

The Glasgow project aimed to design and construct a completely novel type of self-powering environmental pollution biosensor called ElectrEcoBlu. The novelty lies in the fact that the output signal is an electro-chemical mediator which enables electrical current to be generated in a microbial fuel cell. ElectrEcoBlu functions as a biosensor for a range of important and widespread environmental organic pollutants which stimulate the biosensor to produce its own electrical power output. The system has the potential to be used for self-powered long term in situ and online monitoring with an electrical readout. Our approach exploited a range of state-of-the art approaches to support the design and construction of this novel synthetic biological system. The research was facilitated by the entire team - biologists and modellers - working in an integrated laboratory environment in the state-of-the-art Bower building.

Synthetic Biology is the design and construction of new biological parts, devices, and systems, and the re-design of existing, natural biological systems for useful purposes. One of the central features of synthetic biology is the use of approaches from the mathematical, computational and engineering disciplines for the better design and understanding of synthetic biological systems.

Scottish Enterprise, the European Union, and the University of Glasgow have sponsored the Glasgow team in a bid to support this new field in both Scotland and Europe. Two students were sponsored through funding form the Carnegie Trust and the Nuffield foundation. Some industrial sponsorship in the form of equipment was secured from Merck and Anachem.

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Contact
David Gilbert
Susan Rosser